Industries top cause of pollution

08:31, December 16, 2011

The city of Heihe, Heilongjiang province in Northeast China, is veiled by dark smog and emissions from a local thermal power plant. Provided to China Daily

BEIJING - Industries produce more than 65 percent of air pollutants and seriously impair people's health, says a report released on Thursday by a Beijing-based environmental group.

"Despite the fact that automotive emissions are the major cause of air contamination in urban areas, industrial pollution is the most stubborn factor for bad air," said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.

The institute's Report of Air Pollution Source Position comes as recent hazy and smoggy days nationwide have aroused public anxiety over health concerns.

"The air quality will be considerably enhanced if the illegal industries are well governed," Ma said.

Based on information from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the institute analyzed data from the country's biggest 4,400 emitters.

According to the report, 85.7 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions came from industries, while they contributed 76.1 percent of nitric oxide emissions from 2006 to 2009.

More than half of the biggest emitters are located in the eastern coastal areas, while areas like Sichuan province in Southwest China, as well as the Ningxia Hui autonomous region and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in northern China have also witnessed increasing industrial pollution.

The Yangtze River Delta is also seeing increasing emissions of pollutants.

Electricity industries account for 1,178 of the more than 4,400 polluting emitters, said Ma.